Broken Frontier

As I’m sure most of you know, longtime Broken Frontier staff member Mike Bullock recently moved on from his column and review writing to devote more time to his comics writing. Lions, Tigers & Bears, his creator-owned title for Image Comics, has already reached sold-out status. Like most overnight successes, Bullock has been writing for a long time: 20 years, to be exact.

He entered the music industry in 1985 as a singer/songwriter and soon went beyond performing music to managing, producing, promoting and touring with several musical outfits. By the late 1990s, however, Bullock left music and returned to storytelling. He soon found himself in the comics industry, working as the PR Director for a small press company and writing for Broken Frontier. But it’s the comics work he’s most proud of, because, according to Bullock, “they reach the most people and leave the longest lasting impressions.”

MARK: How long did it take you to break in/get published?

MIKE: Well, I’ve wanted to write comics professionally since I was roughly eight years old and my first published book hit the stands when I was thirty-six. Procrastination, thy name is Bullock [laughs]. Honestly though, I really only spent about three to four years actively pursuing the dream before I was contracted with Image.

MARK: What is your personal favorite of your own work?

MIKE: That’s sort of like asking me which one of my children I love the most (even though I don’t have any kids). There are certain scenes I really enjoy, such as the scene in Lions, Tigers and Bears #4 where Joey can’t seem to get his imagination in gear and tries to draw out some plans on the ground, to no avail. Or a scene in Gimoles #4 where, well, I can’t tell you about that, as it might spoil the story for those who are waiting for it to finish up.

MARK: What are you working on currently?

MIKE: I just finished the script for Lions, Tigers and Bears v2 #2. You’ll have to wait and see what happens there. I’m also working on some Light Knight shorts that we’re hoping to run in the back of Lions, Tigers and Bears v2. Aside from that I have a story I’m crafting for an existing character that’s been around for a long time, a character I really love and can’t believe I’ve been given the chance to work with. Sorry I can’t give out details, but I’m very excited about all of these jobs, if that helps any. [laughs]

MARK: Why are you a storyteller?

MIKE: I simply go crazy if I can’t create something. After my music career wound down, I spent a few years with no real outlet for my creativity. I felt like I was drowning in my own life once I wasn’t writing songs anymore. After some soul-searching, I decided to return to my first love, storytelling, and allow that to be my creative outlet. While it isn’t as instantly gratifying as getting on a stage in front of hundreds of screaming fans at a concert, in the long run it’s given me far more satisfaction and pride to sit at my computer and type up my make-believe, then actually hold the finished product in my hand months later.

MARK: Who (or what) inspired you to become a storyteller?

MIKE: When I was little, I was raised closely with my brother and two of my cousins. The three of them could all draw very well, but I couldn’t produce a recognizable stick figure. I went to my aunt and complained that I couldn’t make a picture like the other kids and she told me, “A picture is worth a thousand words, so you better learn to write the thousand words.” I don’t really think she meant this literally, but my five-year old brain took it at face value and I’ve been writing pictures ever since.

MARK: What's on your "must-read" list for fellow storytellers?

MIKE: As far as stories: The Chronicles of Narnia, Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales and A Princess of Mars are all among my favorites and strong examples of great storytelling. As for research/non-fiction: Story – by Robert McKee, Writer’s Digest magazine and many, many others. As you’ve mentioned in previous columns, there are a TON of how-to writing books. While I haven’t found any of them to be the be-all-end-all of writing tomes, most of the ones I’ve picked up have bits and pieces any writer might find useful. Orson Scott Card has a book, How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, and while the entire book isn’t the perfect antidote for a wannabe, it certainly has some neat theories and ideas, most notable his M.I.C.E. quotient.

MARK: What's your pithiest "how-to" tip?

MIKE: I didn’t know you had to have one of those; I’ll have to re-read my writer’s guild handbook. How’s this for “on the spot”: It’s wrong to not write everyday!

MARK: What's the biggest mistake you've ever made as a writer?

MIKE: Listening to my mother when she told me the offer to write young adult novels for Random House was a fluke. I won a creative writing contest in High School, and although I wasn’t aware of it at the time, the piece I wrote went on to a regional then a national contest. It seems I won and the prize was a contract to write young adult novels for Random House. Well, the letter arrived at my house about a year after I turned in the original assignment and my mother read it, told me “This has to be a mistake, kids don’t write books,” and threw it away. A year or so later, I found out that it was legit, but the offer was no longer on the table.

MARK: What's the smartest thing you ever did as a writer?

MIKE: Enrolled in the Institute of Children’s Literature. Their courses are very thought provoking, their instructors are very knowledgeable and the classes are enriching.

MARK: Where do you get your ideas?

MIKE: Everywhere. I pull horror stories from the news and mix them with my nightmares. I take my childhood fantasies and enrich them with my dreams. I fortify everyday events by questioning what might happen if you altered the details slightly. In High School, I was challenged with the task of creating a list of modern day philosophical sayings, the only one that stuck with me down through the years was “Everything offers you knowledge, whether you accept it or not is your choice”.